There are Doors

[duchess of malfi]

I read a novel by Wolfe called There are Doors a few months ago, and have since passed it on to Danlo.

It's sort of hard to tell what's going on as you read it, but what seems to be going on is that a man from our world has fallen in love with a girl he calls Lara. She leaves him, saying some very strange things, and leaving him a letter warning him about not going through significant doors...he, of course, goes through one...to another earth of another dimension. He goes from what seems to be our world in the present day to a world that seems to be set in about the 1940s... Apparently his Lara is a goddess on this other world...and the men die after mating with the women and goddesses there...Lara had travelled to his world to have sex and not have her mate die...weird things happen on the other world, but he is still searching for Lara...

It is also made very possible that it is all the dreams/visions of an insane man...in the new world he is placed in a mental institution, and he seems to know shrinks on our world as well...

Wolfe piles layer upon layer of reality and surreality, to make a lovely but truly mindbending piece of art.

[[Syl]]

I really need to get a hold of that and Cerberus.

[Avatar]

One of the first Wolfe books I ever read. In fact, I think I should go back and read it again, becuase I definitely didn't appreciate it when I read it first, and a good few years have passed.

About all I remember is the bit about "significant doors" and that it was very confusing. Still, it did fuel many interesting speculations about doorways in general.

Thanks for bringing it to mind, Duchess, and with a description that makes me want to find out what I missed last time. I'll go and take it out the library again.

--Avatar

[danlo]

I have a suggestion for those who have read There Are Doors: please compliment yourselves by reading Indoctrinaire by Christopher Priest. Read it twice-you'll be amazed at what you missed.